Weeds grow where they want to; not where they're told to...
Hullo everyone, at midnight GMT on April 30th 2020
the erbacce-prize for poetry 2020 closed for submissions
A HUGE thank-you to the over nine thousand poets who participated;
more submissions than we have ever had.
WE HAVE THE 2020 WINNERS
NUMBERS: This year we had more entries than ever; just over nine thousand submissions for the erbacce-prize 2020 and as always we have had entries from every country in the world. We narrowed it down to a long list which we list below. Over the next days/weeks our selection team will narrow these down to a winner, a runner-up (or runners-up) and four highly-commended who will be asked to be our featured poet in a future erbacce-journal
MALE/FEMALE/COUNTRY: Insofar as we can tell from names there is a definate increase in submissions from females. The balance is just a little short of 46 males to every 54 females this year. Also submissions from the UK have increased, probably due to the publicity given to the erbacce-prize from The Poetry Library and other publishers for which we are grateful however we have had submissions from all corners of the Globe as always.
WARNING for anyone submitting in the future! Despite REPEATED requests over the years to ensure your DISPLAYED email name actually matches (exactly) your WRITER NAME ...simply put; if I submit as the writer 'Alan Corkish' then my email display name must also be 'Alan Corkish'... NOT erbacceAlan, or AlanC not even alancorkish but as 'Alan Corkish') many submissions did not meet this simple common-sense request. EVEN some of these in the winners' lists. Let me give you another example because this is important; IF we choose (say) Aaron Kent as a winner then to notify him we will look for Aaron Kent in our email address lists. If it doesn't appear to be there because he has an email display that is even slightly different then we'll delete him and move to the next poet! NOTE: You do not have to change your email address, just change the DISPLAYED name. If you are on the list below then PLEASE CHECK you have a recognisable email address and contact us if necessary.
WHY do so many poets send submissions to the ERBACCE-PRIZE? The reasons why so many poets support the erbacce-prize is that it is free-to-enter AND (most importantly) it is totally unbiased. If you're a big-name poet it makes no difference because the judges/selectors never see the name of the poet, where they are from or even their gender until we get down to the hundred or so listed below. If you win the erbacce-prize for poetry then you know you really won it purely on merit and NOT because some profit-motivated publisher thinks they can cash-in on a big name. We are a not-for-profit cooperative and the six selectors (all poets and academics themselves) give their time (and sometimes their cash) in order to offer poets worldwide a chance to be published and recognised. So to the FINAL results:
FINAL RESULTs:
Winner: Tamara Fulcher; Edinburgh Scotland
Runner-up: Renée M. Sgroi; Whitby Canada
Jacqui Dunne will interview; Paul Grant; Milton Keynes UK for J62 July 1st 2020
Pascal Gouverneur will interview; Emily Lee; Belfast Ireland for J63 October 1st 2020
Dr Andrew Taylor will interview; Elinor Clark; Lincoln UK for J64 January 1st 2021
Dr Ursula Hurley will interview; Tracey Hope; Brindisi Italy for J65 April 1st 2021
And to those nine thousand others who never made the cut; don’t lose heart, the standard is VERY high indeed and exactly what constitutes ‘great poetry’ is in any case... debatable... bookmark our pages and try again in 2021; it will cost you NOTHING.
Here is a FULL list of the poets in alphabetical order from FIRST names that we long-listed from the 9,000+ submissions, If your name appears below then remember; you made this cut while well-over nine thousand other poets did NOT make it so bookmark the pages and try again in 2021... we open for submissions on January 1st 2021.
Aaron Lembo; Maidstone UK
Adam Levon Brown; Oregon USA
Aiko Lozar; California USA
Alan Toltzis; Pennsylvania USA
Alec Solomita; Massachusetts USA
Amanda Wells; Powys Wales
Amy L. Bernstein; Baltimore USA
Amy Spaughton; London UK
Andrew Kelly; Wirral UK
Annette Gagliardi; Minneapolis USA
Anya Trofimova; London UK
Archita Sinha; Surrey UK
Arianna Sebo; Alberta Canada
Arun Jeetoo; London UK
Ava Patel; Harrow UK
Ben Sloper; Monmouthshire UK
Benjamin Lee Farley; Pittsfield USA
Bradley Arthur John Evans; Cambridge UK
Brian McGettrick; Belfast Ireland
Brian Weston; Barnet UK
Bruce McRae; Salt Spring Island Canada
Cara L McKee; N Ayrshire Scotland
Christopher James; Suffolk UK
Daniel Fuller; Oslo Norway
David Crook; London UK
Dele Oladeji; London UK
Dennis Tomlinson; London UK
Dominic James; Gloucestershire UK
Elena Croitoru; Kent UK
Elinor Clark; Lincoln UK
Ella Hopkins; Southwell UK
Ellie Jackson; Edinburgh Scotland
Elsa Fischer; Bern Switzerland
Emily Lee; Belfast Ireland
Emma Woodford; Bertem Belgium
Emmanuel Springbok; Kraaifontein South Africa
Eve Young; Leeds UK
Finlay Peet; Kingston upon Thames UK
Fred Johnston; Galway Ireland
Gabriel Dantas Messias; Rio de Janeiro Brazil
Gary Bills; Ledbury UK
Grace Copeland-Tucker, Newcastle Upon Tyne UK
Grainne-Dromgoole; London UK
Greta Ross; Canterbury UK
Hannah Else; Malpas UK
Hector McCormick; Bath UK
Helen Harrison; Southport UK
Helen Jeffery; Southport UK
Indyanna Amy Grant; Devon UK
Isabel Rebecca Levine; London UK
Isabelle Thompson; Trowbridge UK
J. J. Steinfeld; Charlottetown Canada
James B. Nicola; New York USA
James Robertson; Melbourne Australia
Jane Katherine Angué; La Tour Sur Ord France
Janet Laugharne; Cardiff Wales
Jennifer Elizabeth Vacher; London UK
Jessica Borden; St Helens UK
Jez Barron; Spalding UK
Jocelyn Simms; St Andre sur Sevre France
Joe Cushnan; Nottinghamshire UK
John Lanyon; Chipping Norton UK
John S Bryan; Kilburn UK
Josef Craig Smith; Cardiff Wales
Kathryn Rose Newey Hertfordshire UK
Kirese Kiana-Tandra Eshe Narinesingh; Claxton Bay Trinidad and Tobago
Laura Celeste Stanley; Walsall UK
Lauren Colley; Nottinghamshire UK
Lauren Senior; Barnsley UK
Leela Soma; Glasgow Scotland
Liliana Negoi; Giurgiu county, Romania
LindaAnn LoSchiavo; NY USA
Lucía Orellana-Damacela; Connecticut USA
Luke Bateman; Lancs UK
Madeleine Davies; Buckinghamshire UK
Maia Yolanda Wagener; London UK
Mantz Yorke; Manchester UK
Margaret Jean Royall; Nottinghamshire UK
Marion Oxley; Todmorden UK
Max Terry Fishel; Bromley UK
Megha Sood; New Jersey USA
Michael Alexander Tanner; Guildford UK
Michael Flavin; Canterbury UK
Morelle Smith; Fountainhall Scotland
Natalie Carmona; North Harrow UK
Natalie House; Staffordshire UK
Neil Beardmore; Milton Keynes, UK
Oliver Marlow; Eastbourne UK
Otto Llewellyn Maximilian Marks; Pressbaum Austria
Paul grant; Milton Keynes UK
Paul Nash; Dublin Ireland
Paul Tanner; Brighton UK
Peggy Landsman; Florida USA
Peter Branson; Rode Heath UK
Rachel Wyndham; Peacehaven UK
Renée M. Sgroi; Ontario Canada
Rhiannon Violet Lois Berney; Wokingham UK
Rhys Pearce; Roxburghshire Scotland
Robin A Dionne; Rhode Island USA
Rochelle Maloney; Colchester UK
Roderick Manson; Perthshire UK
Rory Kilalea; Harare Zimbabwe
Rose Robison; Milwaukee USA
Ruth Horsfall; London UK
Saleem Abdal-Khaaliq; NY USA
Sally Spedding; Ammanford Wales
Sam Hickford; Rochdale UK
Sam Smith; Bridgend Wales
Samuel Wood; Sheffield UK
Samuel Zane Farrell; Georgia USA
Sana Malik; Hanwell UK
Sanjeev Sethi; Mumbai India
Sarah Simon; NY USA
Sarra Culleno; Sale UK
Scott Watson; Uttoxeter UK
Sean Cho Ayres; California USA
Shirley Anne Cook; Denham UK
Sian Maciejowski; Twickenham UK
Sophire Kes Fennell; London UK
Stuart Macgregor; Glasgow
Sujash Islam Purna; Missouri USA
Sunita Thind; Derby UK
Susannah White; Gloucestershire UK
Susie Gharib; Latakia Syria
Sven Kretzschmar; Schwalbach Germany
Sylvia Anne Telfer; Rutherglen Scotland
Tallulah Remond-Stephen; Paris France
Tamara Fulcher; Edinburgh UK
Tania Haberland; Milano Italy
Thomas Gallimore Barker; Staffs UK
Tim Dowley; London UK
Tim Downie; London UK
Tiyana Robinson Henriques; London UK
Tom Davison; Marion USA
Tom McLennan; Liverpool UK
Toti O'Brien; Los Angeles USA
Tracey Hope; Brindisi Italy
Tracy Davidson; Warwickshire UK
Yvette Naden; Crewe UK
...and that's it for 2020! If you missed the cut this time start planning ahead for the erbacce-prize 2021; it really IS the fairest, most prestigious, free-to-enter poetry competition in the WORLD... and thanks once again to the nine thousand + poets world-wide who participated... your submissions give a huge shout-out to all those money-grubbers who charge you reading-fees or entry-fees... and the elitists who support them. erbacce-prize will always be a 100% free-to-enter competition.